Toronto heads out on the road to Orlando and New York now after five games at home, the most successful homestand of the season.
Four straight wins, which have elevated Toronto's record to a still-miserable 28-45, may not do anything to ease the pain of a disappointing season but the streak has brightened the mood considerably at the moment. And for a team that fell so far short of expectations, they seem to be quite all right with that.
"I think we saw some things the last couple of games at home, we are going to fight for 48 minutes and in this case 50-something," point guard Jose Calderon said after Sunday's win over Chicago. "It feels pretty good, I think everybody is helping each other.
"It's sweet and sour a little bit because we are not that far from playing at the level of the other teams in the playoffs. It was too many little things (earlier in the season), it has been a tough season but we have to keep working."
The Raptors have only an arithmetic chance at making the playoffs -- they'd have to pretty much win every game they've got left and hope four other teams go in the toilet -- but a strong finish will at least take away some of the sting.
RAPTORS 134, BULLS 129 (OT): Toronto extended its winning streak to four games -- the longest of the season -- as it survived a 42-point Chicago fourth quarter to pull out the home victory.
The Raptors had three players with 20 or more points for the first time since February as Chris Bosh had 31, Andrea Bargnani 28 and Jose Calderon 22 in the victory.
Bosh made the game-winning basket with 15 seconds left in the overtime and Bargnani and Calderon iced it by making four straight free throws in the final six seconds.
For Calderon, the foul shots left him at 135-138 for the season.
